Genetically Modified Chickens

As a change of pace from KFC’s work on perfecting chickens, some Scottish researchers have managed to modify chickens such that the eggs they produce contain medically active proteins. While the headlines in most news outlets seem to refer to the melanoma anti-bodies that have been produced, this is a more general drug delivery mechanism than just cancer treatments. My usual reservations with genetic modification still persist; however, in my opinion, this marks a much more altruistic path of research than technologies such as terminator seeds. It appears to be a more engineered and sustainable approach towards exploiting our natural resources, reminding me somewhat of the use of horseshoe crabs in pharmaceutical testing. The big caveat for me will be how we manage to maintain the natural genetic stocks apart from the modified ones.